Monday, December 26, 2016

Belated Merry Christmas, Sweet Friends!! Some of you are busy cleaning up from the holiday festivities...or maybe continuing to celebrate?! I've picked up the fall out in my living room and now, I'm doing a little hard drive tidying up!

Today, I'm sharing some goodies I've created using Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps over the last little while. While creating is my therapy, sometimes, blogging feels like a burden. Too tired and talked out to think of ways to talk about what I've created.

The above, Rejoice card, was my parent's Christmas card. I did send this one, but few others. I need to work on that---a card maker who doesn't send cards???? Stamps for the Rejoice card: Celebrate The Savior.

Monday, December 19, 2016

Pray. Without ceasing. That little whisper that flows between you and He. Sometimes, it's pretty overt---like when you're driving on black ice watching cars spin out and collide in front of your very eyes...other times, its a wordless thought, a murmur for patience, a plea for the right words...you know what I mean.

I had wanted to journal the birth of Christ for this week, but have been struggling with this page for awhile and when it finally started to come together, I just had to go with it. The struggle came from the fact that the florals from Scribble Flowers bled through on the opposite page, from this layout:

That's a lot of color on an unprepped page!! We live and learn....but I had no idea what to do about the bleed through. I took a gamble and covered the bulk of the page with gesso, highlighting verses 9 and 10 (Colossians 1):

"And
so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking
that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual
wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of he Lord,
fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing
in the knowledge of God."

Afterward, I wasn't sure
how to finish the page--the gesso had given the page a different
texture....I wish you could see what I feel! I used a variety of stamps from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps to complete both of these layouts. To start, I stamped images
from Scribble Flowers and New Creature and then used my finger to apply distress inks. It definitely gave the page a
different look. I really like it--it also helped to camouflage some of
the floral images from the other side that can still be faintly seen. I
finished the entire layout using Shake It Off Caps and Message of Hope.

Monday, December 12, 2016

So, I'm not really feeling the holly and jingle bells at the moment. I've got too many cute creatures hanging out around my crafty table from I Brake For Stamps. Carmen Medlin designed the images I am featuring today--so much cuteness, I wish I had them all! You can see all of Carmen's designs HERE.

My first card features Me and My Lil Buddy set. Great image, great sentiment! And, fun to color too! I'm still in my water color phase--with cute images like these, simple cards and some coloring are all it really takes!

I like to surround my images with an easy water color wash to finish things off. It helps to ground the image, just like in this card using the Loves Me set. The sentiment is cute, I think and makes a perfect Valentine card or "just because" little love note.

Cute stamps always make a great gift!! You can stock up for the crafty folks on your list and save too! Use my coupon code SAVE10JANE when you stop in at the I Brake For Stamps store!!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Right up front, I want to apologize for this photo. I've really been struggling with my lighting lately, but I didn't want to try to reshoot because I am just SO excited about the new alphabet stamps from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps! Did I mention there's an ALPHABET special right now until the December 15th!!? Check it out, you won't be sorry!

Also a struggle for me, cards for boys--am I right? I always think mine are too fru fru (yes, a very acceptable technical term....) My brother's birthday happens this month (maybe, it's even today!!!) I wanted to make his birthday card unique by combining some favorite colors and using the new Shake It Off Caps alphabet set.

I started by custom creating a stamp pad using felt and a few reinkers. I brought out my highly hoarded and protected Cool Caribbean and Kiwi Kiss reinkers. These are two of my all time favorite Stampin' Up! colors, long retired...but still alive in the Studio! I even have the card stock to match!!

After stamping the "YOU", I added the rest of the sentiment using Keep In Touch, Too and a heart embellishment using Bottom of My Heart and matching dies (retired). And, I even got out my little Janome sewing machine for a little extra touch.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

"Great hearts can only be made by great troubles." So says Charles Spurgeon. Everyone has a story that includes hardship. When we can use our troubles to then serve and connect to others, there's value in the struggle.

I love the main image from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps' My Friend set. It's a great picture of our ever present help in all things--especially our troubles!

I don't even know what I would call the technique I used to create the card panel--it was something I saw else where on the great inter-web :)

After stamping the main image, I used several different distress ink spots to lay down color. Working quickly, I then spritzed the panel with a light mist of water until the colors began to flow. It probably works best with images that don't specific color areas--like hair or flesh, but nevertheless, I like how it turned out.

I added the sentiment from Faith Quote Blocks, also from Sweet 'N Sassy stamps and then, a few star shaped sequins.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Happy Monday! It's really beginning to look like Christmas around here--a few inches of snow will do that, right? The colder temperatures and snow always make me think of this gorgeous image from I Brake For Stamps, Bear Square. I was inexplicably drawn to this image several years ago and still try to find new ways to ink him up year after year! This time, I created a simple shaker card to feature that great face!!

I've
used a simple black and white color scheme accented with some grey and
cherry red. The stamping was simple, just black ink on white card
stock. Using a square die, I cut the right sized window in a piece of
grey card stock. I also added some embossed snow swirls and flakes with
an embossing folder. Some acetate, dimensional tape, glitter and
sequins--whalla!! A shaker!

I accented the card with
some red and brown twine and a few tiny jingle bells--easy peasey and so
much fun to make and to receive! If you are wanting to try it out yourself, 'tis the season, as they say! You can save in the I Brake For Stamps store, simply by using my coupon code SAVE10JANE--have at it!